Railway-rail splice.



W/ TNESSES I. N. PRENOVIGH. RAILWAY RAIL SPLICE. APPLICATION TILED OCT. 9, 1907.

I I I I, 30 26' Patented Jan.4, 1910.

ha /$26M;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, ISRAEL NOAH PRENOVICH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILWAY-RAIL SPLICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,- ISRAEL NOAH Pnnxo- CICII, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of- New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail 'ay-Rail Splices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway-rail splices, and the main object of my invention is, to provide a more eflicient, and a more economical splice for railway rails. than heretofore used.

It is also an obj ectof my invention to proride in connection with the splice, means for the prevention of a lateral displacement, and a longitudinal bodily creeping of the rails.

I attain my objects by the construction, illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1, is an elevation of the splice, F 2 a cross-section at the line shown in Fig. 1 (the ends of a pair of adjacent rails, 30 and 31, are shown in fine lines). Fig. 3, is also a cross-section of the line 25 shown in Fig. 1 showing the sections of the splice-- plates, as in Fig. 2, but the anchor angleplates 18 and 19, and the locking angleplates 13 and 20 and the flat bar 12, which are shown in Fig. 2, are omitted in Fig. 3, while there are washers 16, shown in the latter figure, which are not shown in Fig. 2. Fig. l, is a bottom view of the splice, showing the angle plates 18 and 19 projected thereon.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The splice consists of the two plates, 128, and which plates may also be used separately. An angle-plate 18 may be riveted on to the upright member of the plate 12S, by rivets 1 1, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The outstanding leg of this angle-plate in combination with the flat bar 12, bolted to it (the holes for the bolts in question are indicated at 29, in Fig. 1), is adapted to en gage the nuts 10. An angle-plate 20, shown in Fig. 2, may be similarly riveted on to the upright member of the splice-plate 2-23 (the rivets for this connection are not shown in the drawings). The outstanding leg of this angle-plate is adapted to engage the heads 11 of the bolts 9, used in the construction. The said locking angle-plates and the flat bar, have been fully describedand claimed Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 9, 1907.

Serial No. 396,620. 4 r

in my application for a patent, for an im-. proy'ement in railway-rail splices, filed May 29, 1907, Serial No. 376,371 (the two locking angle-plates, and the flat bar, are marked there 3, l3 and 4, respectively), and I have shown in Figs. 1 and 2, how the same looking angle-plates can be used, if desired, with the splice, herein described. The plates 1-28 and 2 23, besides being connected with each other and with the webs of the rail-ends to be joined, by the bolts 9, passing also through the vertical legs of the locking angle-plates 13 and 20, if the latter are used, are interlocked with each other underneath the bottoms of the rails, by means of the half dove-tail notch 2el528.

In the plate 128, the upright member 1-3, supporting at 1, the top flanges of the rails, and the oblique member 31, resting on the inclined surfaces of the lower rail flanges, are of the ordinary fish-plate angleplate shape. The foot member 4 28, ending with the half dovetail notch 245-28, is in general, also of a known form, except that there is a free space 30, provided, between the top surface of the said foot-member and the bottoms of the rails, and except, that the inclined surface 5, of the half dovetail notch is made parallel to the corresponding inclined surfaces of the lower rail flanges. The half dovetail notch 245--28, may be omitted, in case the plate 1-28, is used separately from the plate 2-23, and the described free space 30, will in this case be the only new feature of the plate 12S. In the plate 223, the upright member 28, supporting at 2, the top flanges of the rails, and the oblique member 3-45, resting on the inclined surfaces of the lower rail flanges, are exactly the same, as the members 13, and 3l, of the described plate 128. The member GT23', of the plate 223, is made up of the double bend (S7, and the footmember 723, the upper surface S, of the latter being parallel to, and adapted to be in contact with, the inclined surface 5, of the half dove-tail notch. The described surfaces 5 and 8, being both parallel to the corresponding inclined surfaces of the lower rail flanges, the plate 223 can be moved toward the central line of the rails, without affecting the tight fit between the said two surfaces, or the clearance 30, provided between the top surface of the foot member 428, and the bottoms of the rails in any manner whatever. By moving, however, the plate 1 28, toward Patented Jan. 4;, 1910.

the central line of the rails, the inclined surface 5, will be raised up and away, from the surface 8, and a free space (t),the free space in question, and the reference (6), are not shown in the drawingswill thus be provided between the said two surfaces. The surface 5, when raised up and away, from the surface 8, as described, remains always parallel to the latter, and the said two surfaces will become in contact again, after the longitudinal edge 28, of the plate 1*2S, has been deflected somewhat downward, under the influence of the wheel-loads. Both free spaces, 30 and (t), must be made as small as possible, so that the rails, which are not in contact with the foot member l28, when not under the influence of the wheel-loads, will not have to deflect much under the latter influence, when loaded, before becoming in tight contact with the said foot-member, and by means of the latter also with the footmember 'T28. The free space 30, is a provision, first, for small inward movements of the plate 12S, caused by tightening up, from time to time, of the nuts 10 or 17 (the inward movements of the plate 223, do not affect the free space 30, as has been described before), and second, for the longitudinal sliding of the rail-ends, due to the expansion and contraction of the rails by changes in the temperature.

The wear of the metal of the rails and the splice plates, which is relatively considerable at the inclined surfaces of the railfianges and the adjacent surfaces of the splice plates in ordinary fish-plate splices, will evidently be small in the splice under consideration, by reason of the support afforded to the rail-bottoms, by the plates 128 and 223, when under the influence of the wheel-loads, and the consequent diversion of a part of the pressure of the wheel-loads, from the inclined surfaces of the rail-flanges and of the adjacent surfaces of the said plates, to the foot-members of the latter. The plates 128 and 2 23, will thus not have to be moved toward the central line of the rails, as much as in the ordinary fish-plate splices, and although each of the inward movements of the plate 1-28, is accompanied by a corresponding upward movement of the same plate, the total upward movement of the latter, and consequently the total clearance required be tween the top surface of the foot member 4 28, and the bottoms of the rails, is very small. The longitudinal sliding of the railends due to the expansion and contraction of the rails by changes in the temperature will evidently take place in the splice, herein described, in the same manner as in splices having no plate underneath the bottoms of the rails, as long as the free space 30, between the top surface of the foot member 4,-28, and the bottoms of the rails, has not been reduced to zero, by inward movements of the plate 1--28. In the extreme case where the free space 30, has been reduced to Zero, as described, the foot members 723, and 4 28, will also not interfere with the necessary sliding of the rail-ends, the former will not interfere at all, and the latter not seriously, on account of the free space (i), provided in this case, between the inclined surfaces 5 and 8, of the foot members et28, and 7-23. The foot-member T-23, is in the said extreme case, and when not under the influence of the wheelloads, not in contact with the half dovetail notch, while the foot member 412S, is under the same conditions, an overhang, adapted to be deflected downward, by a relatively small pressure, applied at its top surface. In order to reduce the free space (t), which is provided, between the inclined surfaces 5 and S, of the foot-members 4-28 and 7-23, by inward movements of the plate 12S, and to make the maximum width of the space (t), about equal. to the maximum width of the free space 30 (the width of the space (If) is increasing twice as rapidly, as the width of the space 30, is decreasing, while the plate 1-28, is being moved toward the central line of the rails), I construct the plates 128 and 223, in such a way, that the foot member 723, of the plate 223, has a tight fit on the surface 5, of the half dovetail notch. 3y this construction, some of the inward movements of the plate 128, will be used up in order to annul the pressure exercised by the foot member 723, on the said surface 5, before the latter can be actually raised up and away from the surface 8.

The angle-plates 18 and 19, comprising each two legs, may be riveted on to the bottom of the plate 12S, with rivets 26, counter-sunk on the side of the plate, nearest to the bottoms of the rails as shown in Figs. 2 and 1, the angle-plates are omitted in Fig. 1, so as not to crowd the drawing too much. The outstanding legs of the said angle-plates are adapted to be embedded in the ballast, and anchor the plate 1-2S, in position. The angle-plates are shown in a skew in relation to the longitudinal cen tral line of the rails, so as to make their outstanding legs better adapted to prevent both a lateral and a longitudinal displacement of the plate 1-28. The rail-ends 30 and 31, are prevented from changing their location laterally and longitudinally cept a certain longitudinal sliding of the rail-end 30, as will be described later), by being well connected with the plate 12S, as shown in the drawings. The angle-plates 1S and 19, may be similarly riveted on to the foot member of the plate 2-23, in case the latter is used separately from the plate 128.

The idea of the described anchor angleplate is new, although the general idea of fixing the splice and the rails in position, by having the splice-plates partly embedded into the ballast, is old. The anchor angleplates 18 and 19, also the locking angleplates 20 and 13, the latter described in another place of this specification, are omitted in Fig. 3, in which figure only the parts of the splice proper are illustrated.

The slotted holes 27, in the web of the rail-end 30, as dotted in Fig. 1, show the commonly used provision for the required sliding of the rail-end, due to the expansion and contraction of the rail in question, by changes in the temperature. The longitudinal-extreme edge 23, of the foot member 723, is rounded up somewhat, so as to facilitate the erection of the plate 2 3.

There is ample clearance provided at 67, between the adjacent surfaces of the plates and the longitudinal extreme edges of the lower rail-flanges, and also between the adj acent surfaces of the two plates, at 28, and between the surfaces 2?) and 24;, not only as a provision for certain inward movements of the plates 128 and 223, but also for small inaccuracies in the bent parts of the said plates. The clearance at t. is madeespcciallv large, in order toavoid as much as possible. atightening up of the adjacent longitudinal edges, of the lower rail flanges.

lVhile I have shown and described only one example of the physical embodiment of my intention, I do not intend to limit the scope of my invention to this specific example. I want it to be understood. that many changes may be made in the detail of the construction, without departing from the principle of my invention.

I am aware, that splice-plates enveloping the lower flanges of the rails, and interlocking with each other underneath the bottoms of the rails, have been used before, and I do not claim the above idea broadly. ButlVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A splice-plate for railway-rails comprising integrally an upright member having holes for fastening the plate to the rails, and adapted to bear against the lower i11- clined surfaces of the top-flanges of the rails, an oblique member, continuous with the lower edge of the upright member and adapted to bear against the upper inclined surfaces of the lower rail-flanges, and a footmember, continuous with and turned under, the oblique member, the foot-member running underneath, and parallel to, the bottom surfaces of the rails forming a free space, of a limited width, between its top surface, and the said bottom surfaces of the rails, and being adapted to be in contact with the latter, when under the influence of the passing trains, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination of a splice plate for a railway-rail joint comprising integrally an upright member adapted to bear against the lower inclined surfaces of the top flanges of the rails, an oblique member continuous with the lower edge of the upright member and adapted to bear against the upper inclined surfaces of the lower rail-flanges, and a footmember. continuous with and turned under the oblique member, the top surface of the foot member being parallel to the bottom surface of the oblique member, and angleplates comprising each, two legs one of the legs of each angle-plate being riveted on to the continuous bottom surface, unbroken throughout its length, of the foot-member of the splice-plate, and the other, outstanding leg, of each angle plate, being adapted to be embedded in the ballast, substantially as herein described.

3. The splice herein described, for railway-rails, consisting in combination with the rail=ends to be joined, of two plates, secured to the rails by bolts, one of the plates comprising integrally an upright member adapted to bear against the lower inclined surfaces of the top flanges of the rails, an oblique member continuous with the lower edge of the upright member, and adapted to bear against the upper, inclined, surfaces of the lower rail-flanges, and a foot-member con tinuous with and turned under the oblique member, the foot member running underneath and parallel to the rail-bottoms, forming a free space between its top surface and the bottom surfaces of the rails, and ending with a half dove-tail notch, the inclined surface of the latter being parallel to the corresponding inclined surfaces of the lower railfianges, the other plate comprising integrally an upright member, adapted to bear against the lower inclined surfaces of the top flanges of the rails, an oblique member continuous with the lower edge of the up right member, and adapted to bear against the upper, inclined, surfaces of the lower rail-flanges, and a foot-member continuous with and turned under the oblique member, the top surface of the foot member being parallel to the bottom surface of the oblique member, and being adapted to engage the inclined surface of the half dove-tail notch, of first plate, substantially as described.

4. The splice herein described for railwayrails, consisting in combination with the railends to be joined, of a plate, comprising integrally an upright member adapted to bear against the lower, inclined, surfaces of the top flanges of the rails, an oblique member continuous with the lower edge of the upright member and adapted to bear against the upper, inclined, surfaces of the lower rail-flanges and a foot member continuous with, and turned under, the oblique member, the foot member running underneath, and parallel. to the rail-bottoms. forming a free space between its top surface and the bottom surfaces of the rails, and ending with a half dovetail notch, the inclined surface of the latter being parallel to the corresponding inclined surfaces of the lower railfianges; two angle-plates, comprising each two legs, one of the legs of each angle-plate being riveted on to the bottom surface of the foot-member of the described plate, and the other, outstanding, leg of each angleplate being adapted to be embedded in the ballast; and a plate comprising integrally an upright member, adapted to bear against the lower inclined surfaces of the top flanges of the rail, an oblique member, continuous with the lower edge of the upright member and adapted to bear against the upper inclined surfaces of the lower rail-flanges, and a foot member continuous with, and turned under the oblique member, the top surface of the foot-member being parallel to the bottom surface of the oblique member, and being adapted to engage the inclined surface of the half doYe-tail notch, of the foot plate, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination of a splice-plate for railway-rail joints, having a continuous footmember, unbroken throughout its length, and running underneath, and parallel to, the bottom flanges of the rails, and an anchor, consisting of angle-plates, comprismg each two legs, one of the legs of each angle-plate, being riveted on to the bottom surface of the said continuous foot member, of the splice plate, and the other, outstanding, leg of eaclrangle-plate being adapted to be embedded in the ballast, substantially as herein described.

6. The combination of a splice-plate for railway-rail oints, comprising integrally an upright member, adapted to bear against the lower inclined surfaces of the top flanges of the rails, an oblique member, continuous with the lower edge of the upright member, and adapted to bear against the upper inclined surfaces of the lower rail-flanges, and a foot-member continuous with and turned under the oblique member, the foot member running underneath, and parallel to, the rail bottoms, forming a free space between its top surface and the bottom surfaces of the rails, and angle-plates comprising each two legs, one of the legs of each angle-plate being riveted onto the bottom surface of the described foot-member of the splice-plate, and the other, outstanding, leg of each angle plate, being adapted to be embedded in the ballast, substantially, as herein described.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 7th day of October A. D. 1907.

ISRAEL NOAH PRENOVIGH.

lVitnesses VILLIAM JACOBS, Mounts Gr. SiniUuLs. 

